Coronavirus disease has got the better of the economies of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), declared the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, this Monday, April 27, at the opening of the session extraordinary meeting of Heads of State and Government of Uemoa who, by videoconference.

“This health crisis will have a direct negative impact on the economic growth of our States and on our public finances in 2020. It appears, for example, that the average growth rate, in 2020, in our Union, would be 2.7 %, i.e. a reduction of almost four percentage points compared to the initial forecast of 6.6%”, indicated the President in office of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of UEMOA.

To date, when the world has recorded 2.5 million people infected with Covid 19 and 200,000 dead, the member states of UEMOA have 3,200 confirmed cases and 102 deaths. For UEMOA, if this crisis continues until the end of the year, UEMOA's economies could go into recession and this pandemic would significantly reduce the capacity of States to fight against poverty and terrorism. .

“We must therefore act quickly and take measures at the health, economic and social levels, in order to mitigate the consequences of the crisis on our economies and thus reduce the suffering of our fellow citizens. This Summit gives us the opportunity to share our experiences in the management of Covid-19 and to seek, together, the means to deal with this pandemic", remarks the President-in-Office of the Conference of Heads of State and of Government.